In Flow

Getting into the flow of the Universe

A favourite song comes on the radio as I turn in to the shopping centre carpark. A parking spot near the front entrance opens up immediately. An elderly lady walks past as I get out of the car and we smile at each other. A trendy coffee place appears ahead to meet my desire for caffeine. The flow of the universe is happening and all is good in the world.

A sports game is shown on the TV. A star athlete is mesmerising the opposition with his speed, power and deft skills. "This guy is totally in the flow."

I speak with an old friend on the phone. A lot has happened in his life since the last time we spoke several months ago. The girlfriend is amazing - he's the most in love of his life. Work opportunities, initially disguised as challenges, have opened up. The apartment of his dreams he's spoken about attaining for years is now his. He's in full flow and it shows.

There are purple patches of life when everything you touch turns to gold. You can feel it in your own energy - almost dance-like as you move and shuffle about your days. It's enlivening. You become your own self generating power plant creating and sustaining clean energy.

There is a precursor to flow, though.

You have to do the work first.

When everything is not how you want it to be, getting out of bed in the morning is difficult. Endless problems to solve and unexpected challenges sap the energy out of you before you've even had a chance to create it. There is a continual energy deficit and things can keep going not-to-plan.

Stuck on a perpetual conveyor belt at this level it seems impossible to get into flow.

The only way around this is to accept the gravity of the situation, adapt and wait for the universe to throw you some scraps of opportunity to get back into the flow of life.

I watched a beautiful and unique animated film last night called Flow.

The adventure follows a comfortable cat who hates water as he's thrown into a battle for survival, while a biblical level flood drowns out his world. At first all he can do is fight to live in a new and hostile world. As he adapts and accepts the small pieces of luck that come his way, he gets into flow. He learns to swim under the water as he hunts for fish to survive. Things that were threats previously become opportunities. He is on a hero's journey and finds purpose outside of himself along the way.

To be thrown into a challenging situation is the start of getting into flow - if you are willing to heed the call. Learning to let go of the things you cannot control and a willingness to take action that seems tough and new at first a must.

My friend who is in flow at the moment has gone through adversity and responded by being an incredibly hard and committed worker and a consistent man in his family’s life. The sports star who baffles opposition defences has suffered injuries which curtailed his involvement at a world cup. He came back and worked harder, prepared his body even better. Myself - I've gone through some challenge and the only way I could respond was to consistently eat frogs - do the things that needed to be done and ticked off to get to the next level.

There will always be more challenges. Things you can foresee, yet still throw you off course. New and unexpected curveballs too. Operating from a place of flow in day to day life will aid you in living well, where you won't be derailed at the first sign of challenge. Temporary setbacks, acceptance of the challenge, moving back into a flow state.

If you're reading this and not in flow, it's time to hit go. The challenges must be faced, there are swords to sharpen, dragons to slay and battles to win.

On the other side, the effortless dance of flow awaits...